Starting out · Roofing
How to start a roofing business in 2026: licenses, insurance, startup costs and your first jobs
Roofing work is won the morning after a storm, by the roofers who are licensed, insured and answering. Here is what to set up first: licenses and bonds, insurance, fall protection, startup costs, a plan and the storm-season rules.
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The short version
- Check your state first: California licenses roofers as C-39 contractors, Florida as certified or registered roofing contractors, and Minnesota as residential roofers.
- Line up insurance before the first job: general liability, workers' compensation (California requires it of every C-39 roofer, even with no employees), commercial auto, and a bond where your state asks for one.
- OSHA requires a guardrail, a safety net or a personal fall arrest system for residential roofing 6 feet or more up. Falls to a lower level killed 389 construction workers in 2024.
- Price by the square from your own costs, and write every change down before you do the work.
- After a storm, never offer to cover a deductible or act as the homeowner's adjuster: Texas and Colorado both forbid it.
Roofing is won in a few busy weeks: the mornings after a hailstorm, when every homeowner on the street calls the same few roofers. Starting a roofing business well means being licensed, insured and safe before that morning comes, pricing every job from your own costs, and answering when the calls do. Here is what to set up, in order.
1. Licenses
How roofers are licensed differs from one state to the next: some have a roofing license of their own, some license roofers as residential contractors, and some leave it to cities and counties. Three examples:
2. Insurance and bonds
Before the first roof
- General liability: Minnesota asks roofers for at least $300,000 of cover per occurrence, and Florida's roofing contractors carry $100,000 of liability and $25,000 of property damage cover. Ask what your state requires and what your customers will ask to see.
- Workers' compensation: California requires it of every C-39 roofing contractor, with employees or without. Elsewhere, ask your state when you need it.
- A bond where your state asks for one: $25,000 for a California license, $15,000 for a Minnesota roofer.
- Commercial auto for the truck and trailer, and cover for your tools and equipment.
- The business itself: register it with your state, get a federal EIN and open a business bank account before the first invoice.
3. Fall protection
Falls are the leading cause of death in construction, and roofers work at the edge all day. OSHA's rule for residential construction is plain: anyone working 6 feet or more above a lower level needs a guardrail, a safety net or a personal fall arrest system. A written fall protection plan can take their place only where the employer can show those are infeasible or more dangerous, and OSHA starts from the presumption that they aren't.
- 389 of 1,034 construction deaths in 2024 were falls to a lower level. Source: OSHA, from Bureau of Labor Statistics data
On every roof
- Fall protection set up before anyone climbs: an anchor, lifeline and harness for each person, or guardrails or nets.
- Every new hire shown how to put on, check and tie off a harness before their first roof.
- Ladders set up and secured before anyone climbs them.
- Weather: stop work on a wet, icy or windy roof.
4. Startup costs
What it costs to start depends on your state and the work you take on, so here is what to budget for, with the fees and bonds the states publish:
| Cost | What to budget for |
|---|---|
| License and bond | In California, $450 to apply, $200 for a sole owner's license and a $25,000 bond, bought from a surety for a yearly premium. In Minnesota, a $180 fee and a $15,000 bond. |
| Insurance | General liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto, tools and equipment. Get quotes before you set your prices. |
| Truck and trailer | A truck that can tow, a dump trailer or a dumpster service for tear-offs, ladders, and a way to get bundles onto the roof. |
| Tools and safety gear | Nailers and a compressor, anchors, lifelines and harnesses, and tarps for a roof left open overnight. |
| Software and a phone | Scheduling, quotes and invoices (Jobber vs Housecall Pro compares two), and a business number that gets answered. |
| Cash | Materials and crew get paid before the customer or the insurer pays you. Keep enough aside to carry a few jobs. |
5. Write a roofing business plan
Keep it to a page. The parts new roofers skip are the season, meaning the busy and slow months where you work and the weeks after a storm, and the cash: what you pay out for materials and crew before you're paid.
| Section | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Services | Repairs, re-roofs, inspections, storm work, gutters, commercial. Pick what you'll lead with, and check your license covers it. |
| Service area | The towns you'll cover, and how far you'll go for storm work. |
| Pricing | Your price per square for each kind of roof, tear-off and disposal, your repair minimum and your inspection fee. |
| Crew | Who's on each roof, how they're paid, and their fall protection training. |
| Cash | Deposits, when material bills fall due, and how you'll carry jobs paid by insurance. |
| Marketing | Google Business Profile, reviews, yard signs, referrals, and what you'll do the morning after a storm. |
| Numbers | Monthly costs, the jobs you need to break even, and your target average job. |
- $26.65 an hour, the median pay for roofers in May 2025. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- 12,000 openings for roofers a year, on average, projected from 2025 to 2035. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. Price by the square
Roofs are priced by the square: 100 square feet of roof. Build each price from your own costs: the materials for a square, with waste, the crew's hours at your labor rate, tear-off and disposal, the permit, then your overhead and profit. The free labor rate calculator works out what a crew hour has to bring in, and the markup and margin calculator what to add to materials.
Put every price in writing with the free roofing estimate template. When a tear-off turns up rotten decking, write the extra work and its price down on a change order, and get it signed before you do it.
7. Storm season rules
After a big storm, much of the work is paid from the homeowner's insurance, and some states set rules for roofers on those jobs. Two examples:
When you sell a roof in the customer's home, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule generally gives them until midnight of the third business day to cancel. You have to tell them so at the time of the sale and give them two copies of a cancellation form. It doesn't cover a repair the customer asked you to come out and do, though anything you sell beyond that request is covered. Your state may add rules of its own, so check them before storm season.
8. Win your first jobs
- A Google Business Profile with your service area, real photos of your work, and reviews from your first customers.
- Ask every customer for a review, and answer every review you get.
- Yard signs on finished jobs, with the homeowner's say-so.
- Referrals from general contractors, home inspectors and real estate agents.
- Answer the phone the morning after a storm. Homeowners call several roofers, and the ones who answer get the inspections.
Before storm season
- Inspect with the same list every time: the free roof inspection checklist covers the roof, flashing, gutters and attic, and turns into the report you leave the homeowner.
- Decide which calls come first: active leaks and ceilings coming down, then inspections.
- Have something answer when you're on a roof. Wakeman is a roofing answering service that can take several calls at once, writes down each inspection request and flags active leaks, from $49 a month.
- Before you pay for anything, hear what a caller gets when you can't pick up.
Free templates
Where do I get a free invoice, estimate, change order, checklist or business plan template for my trade?
Common questions
Do you need a license to start a roofing business?
In many places, yes. California requires a C-39 roofing license for jobs of $1,000 or more, or any job that needs a permit or a worker; Florida licenses roofing contractors as certified or registered; and Minnesota requires a license for roofing on homes. Check with your state licensing board and your city or county.
How much does it cost to start a roofing business?
It depends on your state and the work you take on. Budget for license fees and a bond where your state requires them (in California, $450 to apply, $200 for a sole owner's license and a $25,000 bond), insurance, a truck and trailer, tools and fall protection gear, software, and cash to pay for materials before customers and insurers pay you.
What insurance does a roofing business need?
General liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto and cover for tools and equipment. California requires workers' compensation of every C-39 roofing contractor, even with no employees, and Minnesota requires roofers to carry at least $300,000 of liability cover per occurrence.
What fall protection do roofers need?
Under OSHA's rule for residential construction, anyone working 6 feet or more above a lower level needs a guardrail, a safety net or a personal fall arrest system. A written fall protection plan can take their place only where the employer can show those are infeasible or more dangerous.
Can a roofer pay a homeowner's insurance deductible?
Not in Texas or Colorado: both forbid roofers from offering to waive, rebate or pay a deductible, and from acting as the homeowner's public adjuster. Check your own state's rules before storm season.
What should a roofing business plan include?
Your services, service area, prices per square and for repairs and inspections, your crew and their training, how you'll handle deposits and insurance-paid jobs, your marketing, and the monthly numbers you need to break even.
Sources
- Contractors State License Board (California), C-39 Roofing Contractor (what the C-39 classification covers). Checked .
- Contractors State License Board (California), Before Applying for the Examination (who needs a license, four years of experience, the $25,000 bond). Checked .
- Contractors State License Board (California), Industry Bulletin 24-07, December 2024 (the minor work limit rises from $500 to $1,000 on January 1, 2025). Checked .
- Contractors State License Board (California), List of All CSLB Fees. Checked .
- Contractors State License Board (California), Workers' Compensation Requirements (C-39 roofing contractors must carry it whether or not they have employees). Checked .
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Construction Industry FAQs (certified and registered contractors, experience, insurance minimums, roofing subcontractors). Checked .
- Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Who needs a roofer license?. Checked .
- Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Roofer license (the exam, the $180 fee, the $15,000 bond and $300,000 of liability insurance). Checked .
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1926.501, Duty to have fall protection (paragraph (b)(13), residential construction). Checked .
- OSHA, Stop Falls (389 fatal falls to a lower level out of 1,034 construction deaths in 2024, from BLS data). Checked .
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Roofers. Checked .
- Texas Department of Insurance, Roofing and insurance: Know the law. Checked .
- Colorado Revised Statutes, section 6-22-105, Waiver of insurance deductible prohibited. Checked .
- Federal Trade Commission, Buyer's Remorse: The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule May Help. Checked .
Prices and policies change; the links are the authority, not this page. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
